Shooting doe's!

[Mandity]

I have shot three does in the past 2 days and was wondering to myself if that was the right thing to do. I was wondering if I maybe should have not shot them since the rut is getting ready to take off. Also should I shoot the young ones or the older one. I would like to hear what some of you think.

 

[jjohnson]

Were the glands on their back legs swollen. If so hack them off and hang them in a tree. That's my plan for this weekend if I can find a doe that's ready.

 

[iowaqdm]

I try to shoot the older does pre-rut and the younger does late season. The older does tend to come into estrus first and are more likely to be breed by the dominate bucks. Once all the younger does start coming into estrus they will get breed by what ever buck is available due to the shear volume of estrus does. That may be the dominate buck or a 1.5 year old depends on the buck to doe ratio. Most areas there are more does than what the dominate bucks can breed and therefore the younger bucks get to do quite a bit of the breeding. I read some researh that showed during a normal rut that a dominate buck will stay with an estrus doe for 24-72 hours and that they will normally breed 8-10 does per year. The best thing to do is harvest all the does you can to balance the herd prior to the rut. That way you have a greater chance of the dominate bucks doing the breeding and wont have to worry about shooting does during the late season that were breed by the dominate bucks.

 

[iatreehugger]

I had a friend shoot a doe that was definately in heat (the buck actually tried to breed her after she went down!) a couple of years ago in his non-prime hunting area. He cut the hair off the hocks and saved the urine. It was without a doubt the most effective drag he ever used!

 

[turtlshell]

Nothing wrong with shooting a doe as long as you can make a quick kill and a short track. This will minimize your scent in the area. Drag her out and gut her elsewhere, that's what I do.

I killed a doe last friday and another from the same stand the next night last saturday. I drove by the field two nights ago and deer were everywhere again.

The doe I got last saturday had a little smell coming into her tarsal glands, but I didn't keep them. Hard to beat a truly "natural" scent.